The Cuban government announced it has pardoned and released 2,010 prisoners amid intensifying pressure from the Trump administration. The embassy described the move as a 'humanitarian and sovereign gesture.'
Those released include younger people, women, individuals over 60, Cuban citizens living abroad, and foreign nationals. Prisoners convicted of violent crimes were excluded from the pardon.
The releases coincide with Cuba's partial relief from an energy crisis caused by the Trump administration's oil shipment restrictions. The U.S. recently allowed a Russian-flagged oil tanker carrying 700,000 barrels to dock in Havana.
President Trump indicated the administration would evaluate future oil shipments on a case-by-case basis. Trump has previously suggested taking control of Cuba, calling it a 'failing country.'
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Cuba needs both economic and political reforms, calling current leaders 'incompetent.' Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez warned that any external aggression would meet 'impregnable resistance.'